Sorry I haven't posted sooner... it was hard to find an internet connection and time to blog. We are home now. The following blog was written on Friday, July 6th. Tomorrow I'll be writing another entry and posting photos.
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The last time I wrote, it was Thursday morning. We were planning on leaving Jedidiah Smith State Park and heading north to Crater Lake. We changed our plan and camped in Jedidiah Smith another night. We wanted to spend more time amongst the redwoods and weren't too keen on spending two nights in Crater Lake (it can be snowy and cold even in July.)
We had to move campsites because our original site was booked that night. Our new neighbors played blues and jazz music all day; specifically the kind with wailing saxophone and noodling guitar solos. It was really annoying, but I thought to myself "at least they don't have a yippy dog, or a screeching child, or a loud generator." Later on when we went to bed, Bluesy McJazz snored loudly all night. I could hear the snores even with earplugs and a pile of clothes on my head. Good times.
We relaxed around the campsite for awhile before heading to the nearby town of Crescent City to stock up on groceries and get a little something to eat. We stopped for veggie tacos at a taco stand. They were not good and nothing like the amazing tacos back in SF. Crescent City seemed to be a pretty economically depressed place; we saw a lot of people that looked like they were on drugs. It was still interesting though.
When we got back to the campground we went for a hike along the Smith River. It was really beautiful and there were a lot of gorgeous redwoods. The river was pristine and seemed like a fisherman's dream. Jack, have you fished there?
After dinner, we went to the ranger's talk about redwood trees. It was sad and surprising. Hearing that only 5% of the original coastal redwoods are left is a truly horrifying fact. Seeing photographs and hearing stories about the lumber industry that felled so many proud giants was interesting but so depressing. But, learning about the anatomy of a redwood was delightful. Shrimp-like creatures and salamanders live at the top. Their branches are the size of trees. It was so weird seeing pictures of what goes on up there.
We left Jed Smith relatively early this morning with the destination of Crater Lake in mind. We stopped at Stout Grove to see more redwoods... I can't get enough of those trees! We crossed the Oregon border this afternoon and stopped at Oregon Caves for a tour. The caves were neat and now I can say I have walked inside a mountain. We had lunch in the park's 1930's era diner and saw a really gnarly scorpion crawling around on the floor.
Tonight we are staying at a lodge in a tiny town called Union Creek, right outside Crater Lake National Park. In fact, I don't think there is anything in Union Creek besides this lodge, the diner across the street, and an ice cream shop. We decided on the lodge because we didn't want to camp in the frigid conditions. The lodge is pretty bare bones but the we're happy with it. It was built in the 30's and has a lot of character.
This whole trip we've been singing Twin Peaks songs. All the scenery looks like its straight out of the show. I swear we drove past Leo Johnson's house today.
Well, it's tired and I'm going to bed now. Hopefully I can find some wi-fi tomorrow.
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